Semiconductor devices are typically manufactured on semiconductor wafers or other types of workpieces using sophisticated equipment and processes that enable reliable, high-quality manufacturing. The individual dies (e.g., devices) generally include integrated circuits and a plurality of bond-pads coupled to the integrated circuits. The bond-pads provide external contacts through which supply voltage, electrical signals, and other input/output parameters are transmitted to/from the integrated circuits. The bond-pads are usually very small, and they are typically arranged in dense arrays having a fine pitch between bond-pads. The wafers and dies can also be quite delicate. As a result, the dies are packaged for protection and to provide terminals that can be reliably connected to printed circuit boards.
Semiconductor device manufacturers are developing more sophisticated devices in smaller sizes that have increasingly dense arrays of input/output terminals within decreasing “footprints” on printed circuit boards (i.e., the height and surface area that the device occupies on a printed circuit board). One technique to increase the density of microelectronic devices within a given footprint is to stack one microelectronic die on top of another. To fabricate stacked-die packages, the upper and lower dies are electrically coupled to each other and/or a lead frame or interposer substrate. In some applications, it may be desirable to form interconnects that extend completely through the dies or through a significant portion of the dies. Such interconnects can electrically couple bond-pads or other conductive elements at a front side of the dies to conductive elements at the back side of the dies. Through-substrate interconnects, for example, are constructed by forming deep vias at the front side of the workpiece in alignment with corresponding bond-pads. The vias are often blind vias in that they are closed at one end within the workpiece. The blind vias are then lined with a dielectric material and filled with a conductive fill material. The workpiece is thinned from the back side to expose the interconnects and reduce the thickness of the final dies. Solder balls or other external electrical connectors are subsequently attached to the through-substrate interconnects at the back side and/or the front side of the workpiece. The external connectors can be attached to the interconnects either before or after singulating the dies from the workpiece.
Conventional processes for forming external connectors on through-substrate interconnects at the back side of the workpiece include (a) depositing a dielectric layer on the back side of the workpiece, (b) forming a photo-resist layer on the dielectric layer, (c) patterning and developing the photo-resist layer, (d) etching completely through the dielectric layer to form holes aligned with corresponding interconnects, (e) removing the photo-resist layer from the workpiece, and (f) forming external connectors on the interconnects located in the holes in the dielectric layer. One concern with forming external connectors on the back side of a workpiece is that conventional processes are relatively expensive because patterning the photo-resist layer requires expensive and time-consuming photolithography equipment and processes to achieve the tolerances required in semiconductor devices.